Learning to be thriftyhttps://learningtobethrifty.wordpress.com
A Beginners guide to becoming Thrifty
Wed, 19 Dec 2018 05:33:11 +0000 en
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1 http://wordpress.com/https://s0.wp.com/i/buttonw-com.pngLearning to be thriftyhttps://learningtobethrifty.wordpress.com
Food, Glorious Food.https://learningtobethrifty.wordpress.com/2013/08/09/food-glorious-food-2/
https://learningtobethrifty.wordpress.com/2013/08/09/food-glorious-food-2/#respondFri, 09 Aug 2013 18:51:11 +0000http://learningtobethrifty.wordpress.com/?p=48We all need food, water and shelter to survive, but the trouble is that the cost of food has been spiralling for a while now. According to the Daily Mail (September 2012) the average weekly food shop costs £77, that works out at £4,004 a year.

We are flooded by TV chef’s enticing us to create wonderful looking meals with a dozen ingredients that we will not be able to find a use for during the rest of the week,

We are surrounded by the temptations of processed ready meals and take-aways because we simply do not have the time to spend in the kitchen and cook on top of everything else we need to do.

But is it possible to slash our food bills, eat yummy food healthy and nutritious food and cook it ourselves?

I think so.

Over the next few weeks I’m going to try and be more conscious about what I buy, cook, eat, throw away. Share with you my progress the recipes and my shopping lists.

Who knew vinegar could be so damn clever? it cooks, it cleans, it launders! if only it could sweep my floor and raise the kids too!

Joking aside!

after researching what could be a cheaper alternative to the masses of cleaning products that seem to be available in every supermarket, Vinegar was the one thing that kept popping up. it seems it does everything bar sweeping the floor and raising the kids.

Quick tip to get you started.

Like me, do you have cloudy glasses that no matter how much you wash them never seem to loose that cloudy look?

pour a glug of white distilled vinegar into your washing up liquid and give it a shake. next time you do your dishes those cloudy glasses won’t be so cloudy.

The 3 minute rule is an easy way to keep your house clean. No, I’m being completely and utterly serious. If, like me, you like to sit down on an evening when the kids are in bed with a glass of wine a cup of tea and try and relax in front of your favourite soap or TV program,but really you’re wondering how you’re gonna get all that cleaning done before bedtime or the following day. Why not try and utilise the advert breaks to clean your house?

How do I follow the 3minute rule?

Easy! when the adverts come on make yourself busy. Don’t stick the kettle on and sit back down basically.

]]>https://learningtobethrifty.wordpress.com/2013/08/01/the-3-minute-rule-2/feed/0theowltree1Money, Money, Moneyhttps://learningtobethrifty.wordpress.com/2013/07/31/money-money-money/
https://learningtobethrifty.wordpress.com/2013/07/31/money-money-money/#respondWed, 31 Jul 2013 19:08:09 +0000http://learningtobethrifty.wordpress.com/?p=16I am terrible for spending money on my card. I deliberately don’t own a credit card or even have an overdraft on my debit card. That’s how bad I can be.

But I am terrible for checking my balance and then buying stuff using that useful bit of plastic.

However the problem with that is simply that I don’t know how much is on my card at any one time. your balance conflicts with things that are coming out, things gone out and things coming into your account.

so I plan to stop using my card!
all my bills are direct debit or paid by card where direct debit is too much hassle (for example: our council where setting up a direct debit in order to pay our council tax seems like too hard a task for most of the staff there – trust me I have tried about three times to set up direct debit and each time we get a final reminder letter saying we haven’t paid)

but I also put diesel in my car using my card
I buy my food shopping using my card
I buy clothes and make-up using my card

the list is endless. so the plan from now on is too spend only on my card what needs to come out by card. the rest is done by cash.

Therefore I can only spend what I physically have on me.
I will (should) always know how much is in my account at all times.

I am also going to put any spare change at the end of the day into a coffee jar which I have washed out.
I hope this money can be used for things like catching public transport or that extra loaf of bread or milk we need midweek.

I’ll update in a week to let you know how I am going on.

What things do you do to save money?

]]>https://learningtobethrifty.wordpress.com/2013/07/31/money-money-money/feed/0theowltree1Why We will never shop at Asda again.https://learningtobethrifty.wordpress.com/2013/07/26/why-we-will-never-shop-at-asda-again/
https://learningtobethrifty.wordpress.com/2013/07/26/why-we-will-never-shop-at-asda-again/#respondFri, 26 Jul 2013 09:36:22 +0000http://learningtobethrifty.wordpress.com/?p=13We have been on a strict budget the last couple of months. With getting engaged and putting a deposit down on a flat, it has left us with enough money to buy our food, pay our bills and rent, my petrol for work and the Mr’s train fare for work.

Let’s just say it has been a boring couple of months. especially with the hot weather we have had.

I decided to do our shopping with Asda home delivery. I have used them as well as Sainsbury’s but never for this address. I set up a new account, ordered our shopping totalling £65 including the delivery charge and selected Tuesday 23rd July 4pm-6pm as the delivery time.

I went to work leaving the Mr. at home to wait in. I returned home at 4.45pm and had as yet received no shopping. So we sat and waited. 6pm came and went and still no shopping. I checked the online account as well as my bank balance and sure enough the money had been taken (put into Ghost Holding*) and the order had been processed for delivery by way of email confirming our order.

By 7pm I called the Asda Customer Service Line and was brushed off by the Customer Service Assistant saying she would call the Store from which it had come and find out where it had gone and get back to us.

By 7:45pm we had still not received a phone call back so the Mr. called them up. The lady he spoke to was much more helpful saying for one reason or another it may have possibly been cancelled. She would phone the store, get it redelivered for the next day (Wednesday 24th), we would get free delivery for our next order and £5 free to spend on our shopping.

So we left it. On Wednesday I had to take My brother to Northampton for his driving test which meant I would be out for the whole day. so again I left the Mr. to wait in.

I phoned him on my way back at 5:30pm to find out and again our shopping had not turned up. so when I got back to my Mother’s I rang the Asda Customer Service Line again.

Basically neither of the Customer Service Assistant’s we had spoke to yesterday had done what they said they would do. Our Shopping had been cancelled and we weren’t going to receive it.
After much squeezing my eyes shut and counting to ten whilst I was listening to him talk I accepted the fact and put down the phone.

The money I had spent on our shopping, is today still in Ghost Holding. We had to borrow money off the Mr’s Mother in order to feed ourselves for the week. (Borrowing Money is something I hate with a passion. I am one of those that if I can’t afford it, you go without it except when food is concerned as we had a three year old in the house.)

I am not normally the kind of person to be on the whole “I am a customer and I am always right give me what I want because I am a customer” rant. But In this case yes.

I did not ask for free delivery or a fiver off our next food bill. They were given to us as good will gestures. But they are not much good when you have lost your faith in a company.
All I wanted was my food bill delivered at the time I stated on the Day I stated in order to feed my family.

So Asda, Take note. You may be cheaper than the likes of Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Morrison’s. Your petrol prices may be unbelievably good prices compared with those more local to me. But be warned. After this unforgivably bad service, terrible communication between your staff, forcing me to send my Three year old to her Grandparent’s, just so she can have a decent meal for the night. forcing me to borrow money in order to pay our food bill for the week. sending me out to a supermarket to buy our food even though the whole reason I ordered it in was to avoid going to a supermarket in the first place. Believe me. I will never be setting foot in your store again and your Managing Director Mr Andy Clarke can expect a very strong worded complaints letter about this.

This my dears is my must have shower cream. It retails in boots for £6.00. *I’ll wait while you all say in chorus “she’s gone mad” “she’s off her rocker” or “that doesn’t sound very thrifty”*
But stick with me on this.

For starters, this shower cream smells divine which is enough to convince me anyday Not only that but it is also a built in moisteriser. Bonus if like me you’re too lazy *Ahem* I mean don’t have the time to sit around rubbing lotion into your entire body.

I have noticed that my skin feels softer after using this and have had plenty of comments on the smell. It’s not tested on animals but rather willing volunteers of the human species.

Plus it lasts for ages. I have gone through 2 bottles in the last year. So while you think I may be mad because I like to break the bank and have a little luxury when I’m in the shower. Just remember that every month this costs me £1. And just to put this into perspective for you, I do shower every single day. I would must rather buy this knowing it will last and knowing it works for my skin than spending £2 quid every week buying a cheaper variety which runs out quickly.

Personally I have scoured the shops looking for a shower gel that not only saves me time, but smells nice and lasts long enough to make it worthwhile buying.

On top of that, there are other products in the range with the same scent such as perfume and body lotion so if like me you smelling like you have just walked out of a soap factory with all the contrasting smells of your shampoo, deodorant, shower gel, body lotion and perfume. Then this is the product for you. (assuming you buy the others in the range too)